Wind quintet


A wind quintet, also known as a woodwind quintet, is a group of five wind players.
Unlike the string quartet with its homogeneous blend of sound color, the instruments in a wind quintet differ from each other considerably in technique, idiom, and timbre. The modern wind quintet sprang from the octet ensemble favored in the court of Joseph II in late 18th century Vienna: two oboes, two clarinets, two horns, and two bassoons. The influence of Haydn's chamber writing suggested similar possibilities for winds, and advances in the building of these instruments in that period made them more useful in small ensemble settings, leading composers to attempt smaller combinations.
It was Anton Reicha's twenty-four quintets, begun in 1811, and the nine quintets of Franz Danzi that established the genre, and their pieces are still standards of the repertoire. Though the form fell out of favor in the latter half of the 19th century, there has been renewed interest in the form by leading composers in the 20th century, and today the wind quintet is a standard chamber ensemble, valued for its versatility and variety of tone color.

Notable wind quintet composers

Eighteenth century

  • Antonio Rosetti One quintet, for flute, oboe, English horn, clarinet, and bassoon

    Nineteenth century

  • Johann Georg Albrechtsberger, a quintet for two oboes, clarinet, natural horn, and bassoon
  • Giuseppe Cambini, three quintets
  • Franz Danzi, nine quintets
  • Johann Georg Lickl, one quintet
  • Anton Reicha, twenty-four quintets, as well as some independent movements
  • George Onslow, one quintet, op. 81
  • Giulio Briccialdi, three quintets
  • Paul Taffanel, one quintet
  • August Klughardt, one quintet

    Twentieth century

  • Guy Ropartz, one quintet
  • Carl Nielsen, one quintet
  • Gustav Holst, one quintet
  • Heinrich Kaspar Schmid, one quintet
  • Arnold Schoenberg, one quintet
  • Theodor Blumer, four quintets
  • Percy Grainger, two quintets
  • Wallingford Riegger, one quintet
  • Heitor Villa-Lobos, one quintet
  • Jacques Ibert, one quintet
  • Hendrik Andriessen, one quintet
  • Darius Milhaud, one quintet
  • Walter Piston, one quintet
  • Paul Hindemith, one quintet
  • Roberto Gerhard, one quintet
  • Carlos Chávez, one quintet
  • Ernst Krenek, two quintets
  • Ruth Crawford-Seeger, one quintet
  • Claude Arrieu, one quintet
  • Ferenc Farkas, one quintet
  • Mátyás Seiber, one quintet
  • Jaroslav Ježek, one quintet
  • Alec Wilder, twelve quintets
  • Otto Mortensen, one quintet
  • György Ránki, one quintet
  • Elliott Carter, two quintets
  • Vagn Holmboe, one quintet
  • Ljubica Maric, one quintet
  • Samuel Barber, one quintet
  • Josef Tal, one quintet
  • Jean Françaix, two quintets
  • Ingolf Dahl, one quintet
  • Alvin Etler, two quintets, a concerto for quintet and orchestra, and a concerto for violin and wind quintet
  • Vivian Fine, one quintet
  • Irving Fine, two quintets
  • George Perle, four quintets
  • Vincent Persichetti, two quintets
  • Dinu Lipatti, one quintet and six transcriptions of Scarlatti sonatas for wind quintet
  • Peter Racine Fricker, one quintet
  • Witold Silewicz, at least one quintet, esp. Happy Birthday to You.
  • Malcolm Arnold, two quintets
  • Harry Freedman, three quintets, one with narrator
  • György Ligeti, two quintets
  • Milko Kelemen, one quintet
  • Jurriaan Andriessen, one quintet
  • Luciano Berio, four quintets
  • Włodzimierz Kotoński, one quintet
  • Barney Childs, one quintet
  • Hans Werner Henze, one quintet
  • Lee Hoiby, one quintet
  • Gottfried Michael Koenig, one quintet
  • Franco Donatoni, one quintet
  • Wayne Peterson, one quintet and five transcriptions of other composers' works
  • Jean-Michel Damase, one quintet
  • Frigyes Hidas, three quintets
  • Karlheinz Stockhausen, three quintets
  • Donald Martino, one quintet
  • Per Nørgård, one quintet
  • Ramiro Cortés, one quintet
  • István Láng, three quintets
  • Harrison Birtwistle, two quintets
  • Rob du Bois, two quintets
  • Peter Schat, one quintet
  • David Del Tredici, one quintet
  • Charles Wuorinen, one quintet
  • Frank Zappa, two quintets
  • Friedrich Goldmann, one quintet, and a sonata for wind quintet with piano
  • Michael Kibbe 15 quintets, 3 quintet and Piano, 1 quintet and cello
  • Martin Bresnick, one quintet
  • Richard St. Clair, one quintet
  • Jack Gallagher, one quintet
  • Stephen Brown, one quintet
  • Robert Beaser, one quintet
  • Eric Ewazen, one quintet plus one concerto for quintet with orchestra or piano
  • David A. Jaffe, one quintet
  • Luca Francesconi, two quintets
  • Kenneth Fuchs, two quintets
  • Oleksandr Shchetynsky, one quintet
  • William Susman, one quintet
  • Karlheinz Essl, one quintet
  • Ludmila Yurina, one quintet
  • Juan María Solare, four quintets
  • Peter Fribbins, one quintet
  • Lior Navok, one quintet, and a double quintet that would belong in the 21st-century list

    Twenty-first century

  • Yoav Talmi, one quintet
  • Robin Holloway, "Nursery Rhymes" op. 33a for soprano and wind quintet, and "Five Temperaments" for wind quintet op.105
  • John Zorn one quintet
  • Nigel Keay, one quintet
  • Shigeru Kan-no, no quintets, but there is one work combining wind and brass quintets with brass orchestra
  • Peter Seabourne, "Child's Play..." for wind quintet
  • Osvaldo Coluccino, one quintet
  • Ananda Sukarlan piece for piano & wind quintet
  • Shai Cohen, "STYX V+1" For wind quintet and vibraphone
  • James Francis Brown, one quintet
  • Valerie Coleman
  • Robert Paterson, one quintet
  • Emily Doolittle, one quintet, and one work for narrator and quintet
  • Yalil Guerra,, one quintet titled "Las Musas de San Alejandro"
  • Cris Derksen, one quintet
  • Sean Friar, one quintet
  • Mohammed Fairouz, one quintet
  • Michael Gilbertson concerto for quintet with orchestral
  • Gabriel Vicéns, one quintet
  • Alex Weiser, one quintet

    Notable wind quintet repertoire

  • Andriessen, Jurriaan, Sciarada Spagnuola
  • Arnold, Malcolm, Three Shanties, op. 4
  • Bach, Jan, Skizzen, Highgate Press
  • Barber, Samuel, Summer Music, op. 31
  • Baur, Jürg, Quintetto sereno
  • Beaser, Robert, Shadow and Light
  • Bennett, Richard R., Concerto for Woodwind Quintet
  • Berio, Luciano
  • *Ricorrenze
  • *Wind Quintet
  • *Wind Quintet
  • *Opus Number Zoo
  • Birtwistle, Harrison
  • *Refrains and Choruses
  • *Five Distances
  • Bloch, Waldemar, Serenade
  • Blumer, Theodor, Serenade, Theme and Variations
  • Bobescu, Constantin, Parafrază pe motivul "Horei Staccato"
  • Bois, Rob du
  • *Chants et contrepoints
  • *Réflexions sur le jour où Pérotin le Grand ressuscitera
  • Bottje, Will Gay, Diversions, for quintet, narrator and piano; text by James Thurber
  • Bozza, Eugene
  • *Variations sur un thème libre, op. 42
  • *Scherzo, op. 48
  • *Pentaphonie
  • *Quand les muses collaborent
  • Bresnick, Martin
  • *Just Time
  • *Willie's Way
  • Brown, Stephen, Suite for Woodwinds,
  • Buss, Howard J., Five Stars
  • Cambini, Giuseppe Maria, Trois quintetti concertans
  • *Quintet no. 1 in B-flat major
  • *Quintet no. 2 in D minor
  • *Quintet no. 3 in F major
  • Carter, Elliott
  • *Nine by Five
  • *Quintet
  • Chávez, Carlos, Soli no. 2
  • Osvaldo Coluccino, Diffratta aria
  • Cortés, Ramiro, Three Movements for Five Winds
  • Dahl, Ingolf, Allegro and Arioso
  • Damase, 17 Variations op. 22,
  • Danzi, Franz, 9 Quintets:
  • *op. 56, no. 1 in B-flat major
  • *op. 56, no. 2 in G minor
  • *op. 56, no. 3 in F major
  • *op. 67, no. 1 in G major
  • *op. 67, no. 2 in E minor
  • *op. 67, no. 3 in E-flat major
  • *op. 68, no. 1 in A minor
  • *op. 68, no. 2 in F major
  • *op. 68, no. 3 in D minor
  • Del Tredici, David, Belgian Bliss
  • Franco Donatoni Blow
  • Dubois, Pierre Max, Fantasia
  • Etler, Alvin
  • *Concerto for Violin and Wind Quintet
  • *Concerto for Wind Quintet and Orchestra
  • *Quintet no. 1
  • *Quintet no. 2
  • Farkas, Ferenc
  • *Régi magyar táncok a XVII. századból
  • *Lavottiana
  • Fine, Irving
  • *Partita
  • *Romanza
  • Fine, Vivian, Dancing Winds
  • Françaix, Jean
  • *Quintette à vent no. 1
  • *Quintette à vent no. 2
  • Friar, Sean
  • *Short Winds, for wind quintet
  • Gallagher, Jack, Ancient Evenings and Distant Music
  • Genzmer, Harald
  • *Bläserquintett no. 1
  • *Bläserquintett no. 2
  • Goeb, Roger
  • *Prairie Songs
  • *Wind Quintet No. 1
  • *Wind Quintet No. 2
  • *Wind Quintet No. 3
  • *Wind Quintet No. 4
  • Goldmann, Friedrich
  • *Bläserquintett
  • *Sing' Lessing, for baritone, wind quintet, and piano
  • *Sonata for Wind Quintet and Piano
  • *Zusammenstellung, for wind quintet
  • Hall, Pauline
  • *Suite for Wind Quintet
  • *Quintet, Lyche
  • Harbison, John, Wind Quintet
  • Heiden, Bernhard
  • *Intrada in B-flat major op. 56, for Quintet and alto saxophone
  • *Sinfonia
  • *Woodwind Quintet
  • Hidas, Frigyes
  • *Fúvósötös no. 2
  • *Fúvósötös no. 3
  • Hindemith, Paul, Kleine Kammermusik , op. 24, no. 2
  • Hoiby, Lee, Diversions for Wind Quintet
  • Holst, Gustav, Wind Quintet in A flat, op. 14
  • Ibert, Jacques, Trois Pièces Brèves
  • Jacob, Gordon
  • *Suite for Wind Quintet, unpublished
  • *Sextet for piano and wind quintet
  • Kelemen, Milko
  • *Études contrapuntiques
  • *Entrances for wind quintet
  • Klughardt, August, Quintet op. 79
  • Koenig, Gottfried Michael, Bläserquintett , for flute, oboe, English horn, clarinet, and bassoon
  • Kotoński, Włodzimierz, Kwintet na instrumenty dęte
  • Kurtág, György, Fúvósötös , op. 2
  • Láng, István
  • *Fúvósötös no. 1
  • *Fúvósötös no. 2
  • *Fúvósötös no. 3
  • Ligeti, György
  • *Sechs Bagatellen
  • *10 Stücke , for alto flute, English horn, clarinet, horn, and bassoon
  • Maslanka, David
  • *Quintet for Winds No. 1
  • *Quintet for Winds No. 2
  • *Quintet for Winds No. 3
  • *Quintet for Winds No. 4
  • Marić, Ljubica, Duvački kvintet
  • Mathias, William, Wind Quintet, op. 22
  • Milhaud, Darius, La Cheminée du roi René
  • Mortensen, Otto, Quintette pour Flûte, Hautbois, Clarinette, Cor et Basson
  • Navok, Lior
  • *Six Short Stories for Woodwind Quintet
  • *The Adventures of Pinocchio
  • *Tetris – for double wind quintet
  • Nielsen, Carl, Wind Quintet
  • Nørgård, Per, Whirl's World
  • Onslow, George, Wind Quintet, op. 81
  • Oteri, Frank J., circles mostly in wood, a wind quintet in quartertones
  • Paterson, Robert, Wind Quintet
  • Patterson, Paul
  • *Comedy for Five Winds
  • *Westerly Winds
  • Perle, George
  • *For Piano and Wind, for flute, English horn, clarinet, horn, bassoon, and piano
  • *Wind Quintet no. 1
  • *Wind Quintet no. 2
  • *Wind Quintet no. 3
  • *Wind Quintet no. 4, winner of the 1986 Pulitzer Prize for Music
  • Persichetti, Vincent
  • *Pastoral, op.21
  • *King Lear, op.35, for wind quintet, timpani, and piano
  • Peterson, Wayne, Metamorphosis
  • Piazzolla, Astor, Milonga sin palabras
  • Pierné, Paul, Suite pittoresque
  • Pilss, Carl, Serenade in G Major
  • Piston, Walter, Wind Quintet
  • Poulenc, Sextet, for wind quintet and piano
  • Ránki, György, Pentaerophonia
  • Reicha, Anton
  • *Twenty-four Wind Quintets, Opp. 88, 91, 99, and 100
  • Riegger, Wallingford, Concerto, op. 53, for wind quintet and piano
  • Rosowsky, Solomon
  • *"Moshe der Shuster"
  • *"Nigun ohne a Sof"
  • Schat, Peter, Improvisations and Symphonies, op. 11
  • Schoenberg, Arnold, Bläserquintett , op. 26
  • Schulze, Werner, Explosioni
  • Seiber, Mátyás, Permutazioni a Cinque for wind quintet
  • Solare, Juan María
  • *Extraños preludios y doble canon
  • *Nómade
  • *Ölflecke auf dem Wasser
  • *Born equal
  • Stockhausen, Karlheinz
  • *Zeitmaße , for flute, oboe, English horn, clarinet, and bassoon
  • *Adieu, für Wolfgang Sebastian Meyer
  • *Rotary Wind Quintet
  • Sukarlan, Ananda, "Mozart Meandering through Java before Bumping into Beethoven in Boston" for piano & wind quintet, written for the winds of Boston Symphony Orchestra. He also wrote 5 individual pieces for each wind instrument with piano, based on Ovid's "Metamorphosis", written for those members of BSO
  • Susman, William, Six Minutes Thirty Seconds
  • Taffanel, Paul, Quintet for Wind Instruments
  • Tal, Josef, Wind Quintet
  • Thuille, Ludwig, Sextet for Wind Instruments and Piano
  • Tomasi, Henri, Cinq Danses
  • Villa-Lobos, Heitor, Quinteto , for flute, oboe, English horn, clarinet, and bassoon
  • Weiser, Alex, Wind
  • Wuorinen, Charles, Wind Quintet
  • Yurina, Ludmila, ''Geometricum''